Patronus Charm
by Ashlyn-i
Summary: On their honeymoon, Ginny and Harry stop at the Albanian forest. Ginny is disturbed by the gloom and doom of the forest and so Harry tells her to conjure the creature of safety: a Patronus. That night Ginny dreams. GinnyXHarry.


My second short Fanfic and one of my favorite so far. Certainly not as romantic as my last one (see First Kiss) and it only includes to characters physically but see if you can guess the other characters hinted at in the dream. By the way, thank you to all those who reviewed First Kiss. My inbox was swamped with emails saying that so many people had reviewed. Thank you and I hope you enjoy this one just as much!!

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. Often I wish I do; Sometimes I'm glad I don't.

Enough Waffling. Enjoy.

* * *

For a honeymoon, Harry and Ginny agreed on touring the world. They were finishing their tour of Europe with the country of Albania. They stood on the edge of a forest, staring into the gloom between the trees.

'We're going in there?' Ginny asked nervously. Harry raised his eyebrows and looked down at her. The light of the setting sun bounced off her shining hair, lighting up her fiery highlights and giving the impression that her head was alight.

'I thought it will be interesting,' he shrugged, 'to try and find the tree that Helena Ravenclaw hid her mother's diadem in. to explore the forest that lord Voldemort hid in for so long. You don't find that interesting?'

Ginny sighed. 'I do but it just looks so… gloomy and… anything can lurk there.'

'We don't have to if you don't…' Harry began but was cut off by his wife.

'Don't you dare start to talk to me with that kind of tone! I will follow you to the ends of the earth and you know that!! So don't start patronizing me now!'

Harry simply laughed.

Ginny scowled at him and stalked off towards the inn settled on the outskirts of the forest. Harry ran to catch up with her. He put his arm round her waist and pulled her closer to him until she placed her head against him. They entered together and let the door softly shut behind them.

~*~

Ginny lay in their double bed and listened to her husband breathing. Harry had fallen asleep surprisingly quickly, but Ginny couldn't sleep with the thought of that forest just outside her window. Every time she drifted into a doze, she would be awoken suddenly by tapping on her window, the howl of the wind through the trees or the howl of something else: something unknown. Finally, Ginny rolled over and nudged her husband.

'Harry?' Harry grunted in return. 'I can't sleep.'

'Why?'

'I just…' Ginny fell silent. How could she explain the jumble of emotions ranging from fear to mocking her own weakness? How would Harry understand about her feeling of need that she had to as good as everyone else? That's what you get, Ginny thought glumly, when you grow up surrounded by boys. You forget how to feel.

Harry understood even if she didn't. He shifted closer to her and Ginny rested her head on his shoulder. 'I used to get feelings like that all the time,' he whispered, 'I still do sometimes. There's a fear that I can't understand, even now when Voldemort's gone. Do you know what I do though?'

Ginny looked at him, sardonically. 'If I did, do you think I would have tried it by now?'

Harry laughed. 'Alright,' he said at length, 'do you want me to tell you?' Ginny nodded. Harry smiled, 'it's simple. I summon a Patronus: My Patronus. It works, give it a go.' then he went back to sleep.

Ginny lay awhile listening to the wind and the trees. Then she reached for her wand and whispered the words into the night, conjuring up feeling she had felt when Harry accepted her at the altar. 'Expecto Patronum.'

Out of the end of her wand flew a silvery white substance which twisted and turned to form a glorious horse... was it a horse? Ginny didn't care any longer. She turned over, the feeling of warmth and safety that radiated from her Patronus shielding her from darkness and fear, and snuggled next to her husband.

And that night, she dreamt…

~*~

The world was made not of objects but of colour. Nearly every colour under the sun swirled about in mishmash fading into everything and never was there a definite outline to anything. They were all splodges on a moving background, forever swirling and curling, forming waves and spirals and at one point a rainbow stretched from one side of the dream canvas to another. But never were the outlines clear and the edges precise: always they fell upon each other and blended to form other colours and still the patterns came and went and the colours of the canvas moved on.

At length, crowd of defined figures emerged from the mesh and walked together through the landscape of colour. All the figures were silver and they walked together strong and proud. These figures weren't people but animals: an otter, a terrier and a stag. These three were soon joined by other animals: a phoenix, a horse, a hare, a big dog and a silvery shape that had no exact outline but was defiantly an animal. Ginny watched as this crowd of silvery creatures wandered through the shapes and colours until at last they stopped.

Unnoticed by Ginny, the colours were changing. Before they had been bright and bold, mixing with each other and forming new colours, but now they were duller, darker and consistently joined by black. These colours didn't merge but kept to themselves. And through this mix of dark and gloom slithered a silver snake. And without warning, it struck.

The stag, which stood in the centre of the huddle, reared up as the snake's jaws snapped shut where its heart had been. The phoenix dive-bombed the snake from above, until it backed off. The otter scooted up the stag's back legs so it could stand on its back and whisper in its ear. The terrier stood beneath it, as if it could hold the stag up if it collapsed. The horse backed off until it stood with the stag between it and the snake. The hare leapt onto the horse's rear and the silvery, unknown shape floated above its head.

Once again the snake struck, once again the stag moved out of reach, and once again the snake was beaten back by the phoenix. A second time, then a third and this time the dog leapt between it and the stage. The dog fell to ground and didn't move. For a third time the snake was driven back by the phoenix.

It darted forward for a fourth time but this time, when its jaws opened, a dewy eyed doe galloped from its mouth. It butted the stag aside and reared up to bring its hooves down on the phoenix.

It was the phoenix's turn to fall and not to rise again.

The stag had had enough. It would have no other animal protect it and it charged forward at the snake as it snapped at him. But the doe turned round and leapt in the way before the snake could hit.

The stag stood over the doe as the doe faded away. It watched it go and then raised its head to the snake.

The snake struck and the stag struck back. They battled with each other until the snake collapsed and moved no more.

There was celebration amongst the remaining animals and colours swarmed back in: reds and gold and purple and yellow and many, many colours more than can be nameable. The animals danced around and the stag danced with them. The tension had gone and all that remained was a sad joy for the loss they had suffered in their triumph.

The animal numbers began to dwindle. First the shapeless thing left, unheeded and unnoticed, moving away with the swirling colours. Second the hare, bounding off after a vibrant green, gently mixing with a turquoise blue. The otter and the terrier meandered off together, following a path of lilac and magenta with traces of rose and scarlet.

The horse and stag walked alone and slowly a change was happening to the horse. It was shrinking, as was its muzzle and tail, until the animal that accompanied the stag wasn't a horse.

It was doe.

Sleek and majestic, beautiful and radiant, the couple followed all the colours not caring where they went. Finally they stopped at a patch of gold. Around them, the colours continued to change and swirl. The doe and stag exchanged a meaningful embrace.

Then the doe looked out of the dreamy canvas for the first time and Ginny saw the transformation from horse to doe and back to horse again. This horse cantered out towards her, leaving the doe behind with the stag. It reached the edge, filled her sight and then she awoke.

~*~

Sunlight filled their little room. Harry was having a shower; Ginny could hear the water splashing in the bath and hear Harry cursing as the unpredictable shower switched from hot to freezing in the space of a second. Making a mental note not to take a shower until she had fixed the water, Ginny slid out of bed and padded to the bathroom door. Harry had given up and was towelling himself dry. He had just wrapped it round him when Ginny entered.

'Sleep well?' he asked.

'Eventually,' Ginny said, leaning against the sink, 'I had the strangest dream though.' She described it to him.

Harry stood listening and dripping onto the bathroom floor. When she had finished he said, 'those creatures sound like Patronus'.'

'That's what I thought,' Ginny admitted, 'but my Patronus is a horse not a doe.'

'Patronus' can change,' Harry said knowingly, 'Tonk's did. Didn't you know that?' he asked as Ginny stared at him wide eyed. Ginny shook her head. Harry shrugged. 'Because of Tonk's deep affections for Lupin, her Patronus changed from what-ever-it-was-before into a werewolf.'

'Really,' Ginny wondered aloud.

'Why? What was your Patronus last night?'

'I didn't see,' Ginny confessed and she wandered back out of the bathroom to give Harry enough privacy to change. She went to the window and stared out at the forest. In the morning light, it didn't look as gloomy or as scary. Maybe that's because I'm seeing it in a new light, Ginny thought.

Her wand was lying where she had left it on the bedside table. She picked it up, twirled it for a moment and then directed out of the window. A silvery creature cantered out of her window and into the edge of the forest. Ginny gasped. It wasn't the horse she had been expecting but a beautiful, shining silver doe.

Harry came and joined her by the window. At his command, his glowing stage galloped into the shadow of the trees to accompany the doe. They entwined their necks affectionately. Harry leaned down and whispered in Ginny's ear.

'To me, you've always been my little glowing light, my shining silver doe.'

Ginny turned and kissed him. He kissed back. The sun shone down and the Patronus' faded into nothing as new day began.

* * *

Did you get the characters? The Patronus':  
Harry = stag (of course),  
Ron = Terrier,  
Hermione = Otter,  
Dumbledore = Phoenix,  
Ginny = Horse-Doe,  
Luna = Hare,  
Sirius = Big Dog  
Voldemort = snake.  
To be on the safe side, I left Neville as the shapeless cloud of silver to stop arguments about what Patronus he should be. According to the film Ginny is a horse and so I went with that - she does suit a horse.

I hope you enjoyed it and I hope you enjoy any other Fanfics I have written or have yet to write.


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